If the world ever needed more Mark Twain, surely the time is
now! For a few hours last Friday missing airplanes, recently deceased hate
peddlers, and conspiracy theorists of all stripes receded into the background
as HART Theatre’s production of Is He
Dead? conducted us headlong into the world of French farce. Director Paul
Roder, Assistant Director Tyson Redifer, and their cast succeeded in doing the
one thing we demand of comedy – they made us laugh.

The show’s origins are a bit muddled – Twain wrote the
original in 1898, but it did not see the light of day until a diligent Twain
scholar unearthed the manuscript over 100 years later. Playwright David Ives
simplified the script, adapting it for the modern audience, and in 2007 it made
its Broadway debut.

Is He Dead? is brimming
with the tried and true elements of traditional farce. Starving artist
Jean-Francois Millet and his protégées, faced with financial ruin at the hands
of greedy art dealer Bastien Andres, fake Millet’s death to inflate the value
of his paintings. Enter: cross-dressing, as Millet dons the persona and
costumes of his bereaved (if nonexistent) twin sister, the widow Daisy Tillou.
Doors slam, disguises abound, confusion rules the day, at the end of which all
is revealed and goodness triumphs over evil.

The show is anchored by the four artists – American
Agamemnon “Chicago” Buckner (Nick Hamilton), German Hans “Dutchy” von Bismarck
(Laurence Cox), Irishman Phelim O’Shaughnessy (Justin Campbell), and their fearless
leader Jean-Francois Millet (Devon Roberts). While each plays his role to
consistently humorous effect, it is only when Roberts emerges in drag that the
audience shifts from mild chuckles to belly laughs.The comic level climbs not just at the
absurdity of the Widow Tillou, but at the antics of his (her?) three buddies as
they offer hands on instruction in the feminine arts.Roberts is simply extraordinary, especially
when he begins to believe his own shtick, reveling and preening coyly in
response to the amorous attentions of his suitors.

A key subplot is introduced by the trio of Papa Leroux
(Aaron Morrow) and his two daughters, Marie (Sarah Keyes Chang) and Cecile
(Amanda Clark).Chang plays the classic
ingénue – sweet, lovely, and fragile. Clark’s best moments come early; her
amazingly elastic facial expressions provide hilarious contrast to the
relatively somber tone of the first few scenes. The opposite is true of Morrow,
whose role really takes off in Act II when he moves from desperate old man to
ardent, if unselective, lecher.

Dave Anctil makes his first ever stage appearance as the
evil Bastien Andres, and brings admirable villainy to the role. Rian Turner
plays three parts, but it is as the stereotypically effete British art buyer
Basil Thorpe that his wheezing, nasal, supercilious performance really shines.

Special thanks to the costume team of Mary Gow, Kay Denlow,
Karen Roder, and Kayli Gow and makeup designer Kahela Fickle whose work faithfully
captures the period and locale even when dealing with the gender-bending
demands of the script.

Is He Dead? is so
funny that we are looking forward to seeing it again at HART’s April 5th
fundraiser, “HART Laughs at Art.” Comedy lovers should not miss this wonderful
production – you may have to wait another 100+ years before it is back on the
scene!

Is He Dead? is
playing at the HART Theatre, 185 SE Washington, Hillsboro through Sunday, April
6th, with performances Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday
at 2:00 p.m. The April 5th performance is open only attendees of the
special fundraiser.

The North American premier production of Lear by Bag & Baggage is a somewhat
radical adaptation of Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy, King Lear, first performed a decade ago in Glasgow, Scotland.Ashland
regulars may disagree, but from our perspective Artistic Director Scott Palmer
has done the world a great service by stripping the Bard’s work down from 20
characters (not counting servants, knights, and assorted hangers-on) to the
spare cast of 5 currently treading the boards at Hillsboro’s Venetian Theatre. Even more
commendable is his determination to strip away innumerable sub-plots and
intrigues that may have been of interest to an Elizabethan audience, but serve
today only to obscure the story’s central themes.

Our only real complaint is that Palmer did not go far
enough. The story he tells, which is much less convoluted than the most famous
of Shakespeare’s versions, incorporates elements of several different versions
of the Lear (Leir) story.In
synthesizing the various sources, while retaining the Elizabethan language,
Palmer occasionally lost us – did Perillus (a character from Leir, roughly analogous to the Earl of
Kent in Shakespeare’s version) direct Lear to Dover to rendezvous with the King of France,
or to hurl himself off the White Cliffs? Were both Cordelia and Perillus at
various times donning masks to disguise themselves (even though Perillus had
not, to all appearances, been banished)? We, (and perhaps other clueless
audience members) would have benefited from a bit of additional expository
dialogue to answer questions like these.This strategy worked to marvelous effect in Palmer’s adaptation of Julius Caesar last summer, and we really
missed his strategic insertions.

That said, the Bag and Baggage production is a powerhouse of
innovative, yet traditional theater. The set is simple and beautiful –
diaphanous, colorful hanging shreds of curtain evoking the elegance and decay
of Lear’s kingdom. The lighting design similarly accents the tale – at times
creating a castle interior, at other times an eerie, storm-tossed heath. Both
set and lighting design help to keep the story moving – rather than waiting
through prolonged, dark scene changes, the audience is allowed to focus on the
story and use its imagination to create the appropriate background for each
scene. The original musical score, performed live by composer Tylor Neist,
subtly enhances the show’s most dramatic moments without unduly distracting the
audience’s attention.

The show’s greatest asset is the exceptional quality of the
cast. Despite our occasional confusion about minor textual details, the play’s
themes are made crystal clear by the five actors. Kevin Connell (“Lear”)
delivers a moving performance as he descends from arrogant familial and royal
despot to pathetic, broken madman. Despite the uniformly intense emotional
level of the role, he modulates his delivery enough to avoid the sins of
overacting. Rebecca Ridenour is convincing as the hypocritical and devious, but
ultimately repentant, eldest daughter Goneril – she demonstrates sincere horror
when sister Regan (Jessi Walters) violently disfigures Perillus. Walters is
every father’s nightmare – greedy, vicious, and completely heartless. She uses
her powerful voice and stark facial expressions to convey the unfathomable evil
of her character. Stephanie Leppert (youngest daughter Cordelia)
combines sweetness, honesty, loyalty, and self-confidence to portray a young
woman of unparalleled strength and courage. Like Cordelia, Lear’s manservant
Perillus (Benjamin Farmer) clearly has his master’s best interests at heart
throughout; ironically, it is traitorous daughter Regan who punishes him for
his alleged treason. Both Farmer and Leppert bring skillfully nuanced delivery
to their emotionally complex roles.

Once again, Bag & Baggage is bringing challenging and
groundbreaking theater to the Venetian’s stage. While not perfect, the show
provides a compelling and provocative evening of intense and beautifully staged
drama.

Bag & Baggage’s
Lear is playing at Hillsboro’s
Venetian Theatre, 253 E. Main
Street, through March 23, with performances
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

People go to the theater for many different reasons. After a
kind of tough week, we went last Saturday in search of a pleasant, entertaining
evening; BCT’s production ofCrossing Delancey delivered that and
more. Author Susan Sandler’s story about Isabelle (“Izzy”), a nice Jewish girl
finding love in New York City,
is a gentle romantic comedy that earns more chuckles than belly laughs, but
leaves its audience with a warm glow.

BCT is known for its ingenious, functional use of space. Set
designer Alex Woodard’s creation makes the most of the limited space available,
using a vertically placed bench to separate the bookstore (Izzy’s workplace)
from her grandmother Bubbie’s kitchen. Move the bench to a horizontal position
and voila! – it becomes a third location, allowing the action to move without
interruption.The kitchen set is
particularly attractive and engaging, with its accurate reproduction of
everybody’s Bubbie’s kitchen – right down to the old gas stove and
grandmotherly refrigerator magnets.

Director Stan Yeend makes an impressive directorial debut at
BCT, eliciting fine performances from his five-person cast. Jessica Reed
(“Izzy”) gives a bright and believable interpretation to a complex lead role. She
moves easily from a stereotypical modern city girl, proudly rejecting the
cultural clichés of her East side origins, to a grounded woman who finds
happiness when she strips away her superficial illusions and delusions.

Valarie Griffiths Brown and Adam Caniparoli

Lauren Bronson (“Bubbie”) is a wonderful character actress
who creates a classic Jewish grandmother; typical but not clichéd. She projects
a warmth that quickly shifts to sharp determination when obstacles arise – a
quiet steamroller who will not be deterred. Her friend and co-conspirator Hanna
(played by Valarie Griffiths Brown) embraces her inner matchmaker with the same
enthusiasm she brings to a plate full of kugel. She is loud and brash, with the
subtlety of a used-car salesman – and she is very, very funny.

The play’s two men are polar opposites, and Adam Caniparoli
(“Sam” the pickle salesman) and Seth Haas (“Tyler” the Great Author) skillfully embody
their roles.

Caniparoli is exceptionally multidimensional – pragmatic,
philosophical, thoughtful, educated, and overwhelmingly likeable. We hope to
see more of this talented young actor on Westside stages. Versatile BCT veteran
Haas is equally effective, if much less likeable, as a man with but one
dimension – his own ego. His smarmy affect opens Izzy’s eyes to the importance of
real character – as Sondheim once said, “Nice is different from good.”

Lisa Bodry’s lighting design is an essential component of
the show, defining areas and moods and utilizing a carefully placed spotlight
(nice job, Tonja Schreiber!) to allow Izzy to occasionally break the third wall
and chat companionably with the audience.

Crossing Delancey
is chicken soup to the theater lover’s soul, yet carries an unexpected depth
that lingers long after the evening ends. So see it bubelah, you’ll be glad you
did!

Beaverton Civic Theatre’s production of Crossing Delancey plays at the Beaverton Civic Library Auditorium
through Saturday, March 15th with performances at 7:30 p.m. on
Friday and Saturday and a Sunday matinee at 2:00 p.m. on March 9th.

Monday, March 3, 2014

By Tina Arth and Darrell BakerAs the Wall Street Journal noted in a recent article,
Theatre in the Grove is taking a rather large risk by offering as big and
provocative a show as August: Osage
County in Forest Grove. This is not exactly a family-friendly community
theater offering – over three hours of jarring drama laced with copious doses
of vulgar language and unbelievably vile behavior. It’s an intensely disturbing
play, and despite the frequent (dark) humor, the evening left us emotionally
drained and pathetically eager to hurry home to the uncomplicated adoration of
our dogs. This reaction is not an indictment of the production, but recognition
of the powerful performances we had just seen.

Any attempt to neatly summarize the plot would be wasted –
there’s enough drama and trauma in the play’s tale of the Westons, a thoroughly
dysfunctional Oklahoma family, to fill a season of General Hospital. The events take place in the course of a few
weeks in the large Weston homestead, where the entire clan assembles to deal
with the disappearance (and ultimately, suicide) of the family’s alcoholic
patriarch, Beverly Weston. Over the course of the play, the dialogue and action
lead us through decades of drug abuse, alcoholism, molestation, infidelity,
incest, blackmail, and emotional cruelty, leaving a group of twisted victims
who eventually, frantically scrabble to escape the family home.

The role of Violet Weston (Pruella Centers), the
pill-poppin’ manipulative momma of the clan, defines and dominates the entire
show. From the moment that Centers appears, stumbling and mumbling down the
staircase like Gloria Swanson in Sunset
Boulevard, she doesn’t merely steal scenes, she owns them. As the show
evolves, she strips away the overtones of pathos to reveal herself as a great,
lurking spider who uses her web (the entire house) to ensnare and humiliate all
who enter.

Of course, Centers is not alone on the stage – she is
surrounded by a stunning group of actors who, even on preview night, did not
miss a beat, a line, or a nuance.With a
cast of 13 seasoned performers, neither space nor the availability of
appropriate adjectives allows us to recognize all of them.However, a few people demand special notice.
Carly Wasserstein (as Johnna Monevata, the Native American housekeeper)
projects a calm, grounded persona that provides welcome relief from the mangled
psyches that surround her. She reminds the audience that there is another world
outside the Weston web, and she brings a little sanity into the household.
Jeananne Kelsey (as Violet’s 14-year-old granddaughter Jean) and Michael
Rouches (as the sleazily pedophilic fiancé of one of the Weston daughters) add
fuel to the family bonfire in two disturbingly believable scenes. Rouches radiates
unctuous charm layered thinly over his character’s predatory nature, and Kelsey
beautifully captures the clueless adolescent spaciness of her role.

Director, set and sound designer Zachary Centers is the
(literal and figurative) architect whose vision has brought August: Osage County to Theater in the
Grove.His spectacular set creates the
elaborate Petri dish in which the Weston family pathology flourishes, and his brilliant casting decisions provide the necessary fodder.

Obviously, this show is not for everybody. Persons of
delicate sensibilities are well advised to steer clear of the strong language
and stronger stories of Osage County – smelling salts and fainting couches are
not provided.However, audiences open to
a thought-provoking, gut wrenching evening of dark humor and darker themes
should flock to the production.

August: Osage County
runs at Forest Grove’s Theatre in the Grove through Sunday, March 16th
with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.